Transcript Media as
2012 US Election and th 18 PC th 18 PC http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/world/asia/jiang-zemin-ex-leader-of-china-asserts-sway-over-top-posts.html?_r=0 Media Politics Media Politics: Monitors China Digital Times http://chinadigitaltimes.net/ China Media Project http://cmp.hku.hk/ Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo “God’s present to China” “The internet has made it easier to obtain information, contact the outside world and submit articles to overseas media. It is like a super-engine that makes my writing spring out of a well. The internet is an information channel that the Chinese dictators cannot fully censor, allowing people to speak and communicate, and it offers a platform for spontaneous organisation.” China Urges Europeans to Boycott Nobel Ceremony (NY Times 11/5/10) Nicholas Bequelin “The police know these people are not going to cause the collapse of the Communist Party, but this is all about information control.” Media expansion 7 TV and radio Approx. Print 2,035 1,000 TV stations newpapers (2003) (Liebman, p. 17) Internet 513 million internet users as of 2012 Rapid increase 42% increase 2008 over 2007 Largest # of users in world as of 2008 World’s largest internet market Media: Pluralist or Corporatist? 8 How autonomous is traditional media? How autonomous is the Internet? Internet idealists vs. Internet pessimists Addressing the debates 9 State control capacity Xiao Qiang on traditional and new media argues that print and broadcast media are more constrained but that the internet is much less so. “Rising public opinion through online forums and blogs…are remaking the public agenda.” “Newfound freedoms have developed in spite of stringent government efforts to control the medium… seriously eroding the party-state censorship mechanism.” Addressing the debate 10 Commercialization Daniel Lynch (1999), Bruce Gilley (2004) argue that media commercialization has allowed for the loosening of the CCP's control Zhao Yuezhi (1998), Ashley Esarey (2005) argue that media commercialization has only changed the forms of control utilized by the CCP http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/imprisoned_06/imprisoned_06.html Reporters Without Borders’ 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index places China at 159 out of 167 countries 358 TV stations and 2,119 newspapers 12 Case study Bringing evidence to the debates Sun Zhigang case Landmark event now memorialized in the unofficial “Museum of Peasant Labor” in Beijing. “He died for us.” Sun Zhigang case Background Household registration system (internal passport system) Rural migrant workers require temporary resident permits to reside in cities Apartheid like system Abused by employers Sun Zhigang 15 Personal details 27-year college graduate in graphic design from Wuhan who went to Guangzhou to work Picked up by police upon entering Internet café because he didn’t have a temporary residence permit or ID with him Called friend to bring his ID Sun Zhigang 16 “Custody and Repatriation (收容遣送) Center In principle for homeless beggars Authorized Used by State Council regulations to harass migrant workers Extort fines Detain in squalid conditions Sun Zhigang 17 Circumstances Sun beaten to death in detention center (March 2003) Likely for challenging detention Media as (extra-legal) recourse Parents notified of death three days later Parents personally sought explanation from government bureaus in Guangzhou—with no results Went to Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolitan Daily) when they couldn’t get answers Reported story (April 2003) Sun Zhigang 18 Internet as (extra-legal) recourse Web sites picked up story Led to outrage on bulletin boards, in chat rooms Public discussion of “Custody and Repatriation System” Sun Zhigang 19 Citizen petition to National People’s Congress on constitutionality three individuals with Ph.D. degrees in law from Beijing University re-examine the constitutionality of the 1982 “Measures for the Custody of Repatriation of Vagrant Beggars in the Cities.” Administrative Punishment Law, Legislature Law deprivation of a citizen’s freedom can be done only by laws passed by the National People’s Congress or its Standing Committee. Not State Council or provincial regulations Shourong Qiansong system abolished and replaced by milder Measures for Internment and Deportation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars—not for migrant workers What is behind the abolition? Media and internet! C&R regulations abolished June 2003 However, NO reference to constitutionality Sun Zhigang 22 Subsequent results Those directly involved in Sun Zhigang’s beating death were tried in criminal court and sentenced to death (sentence commuted to life in prison) Editors of Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市报） subsequently removed from their positions on trumped up corruption charges Bringing Evidence to the Debates Regulatory Framework Background: Symbolic commitment to press freedom, free expression 24 PRC Constitution Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens Article 35 Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19 Freedom to seek, receive, impart information and ideas China has signed but not ratified What difference does this make—if any? Southern Weekend reference to int’l coventions p. 61 Corporatist Controls: Entities Involved in Internet Regulation 25 • Central Propaganda Department • Department of Commerce • Department of Telecommunications • General Administration of Press and Publications • Ministry of Culture • Ministry of Information Industry • Ministry of Public Security • Public Security Bureau • State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television • State Council • State Council Information Agency • State Secrets Bureau Corporatist and other controls 26 Corporatist controls on the media and internet Standard controls Party membership Nomenklatura of the Central Propaganda Department (replicated at lower levels) CCTV, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency Double-hatting Central Propaganda Department instructions Propaganda circulars (PCs), specific instructions on how to handle sensitive topics or specific news stories for the media. Content must come directly from national media organizations like Xinhua, People’s Daily, or CCTV Corporatist and other controls 27 General Administration of Press and Publication Registration Newspapers, Internet Service Providers Government sponsor—held responsible Provide identity papers for editorial and technical staff Reporters Examination and licensing by state Corporatist and other controls 28 Policing Special police unit Fines, shutdowns, detentions, arrests *stiff fines for violations * more than 60 Chinese serving prison sentences for Internet-based political crimes (HRW ’05) A public security official examines the identity of a Chinese surfer at an internet café (Lagerkvist 2010) Corporatist and other controls 29 Content Self monitoring Must monitor content, prevent publication of prohibited material, remove and report any prohibited materials Restricted content and likely targets Threatens the unity, sovereignty, geographical integrity of the state Uighurs, Indep East Turkestan; Tibetans; Taiwanese Reveals state secrets, threatens state security, or harms national interests state regulation Propagates superstitution falungong Harms racial unity Threatens social morality pornography Corporatist and other controls 30 Limitations “state secrets” 1997 Penal Code Vague, ill-defined Allows government discretion, manipulation Article 105: penalizing those subverting the political power of the state Public Security Administration Punishment Law Article 25: detention of citizens spreading rumors that disturb public order Jinan flood (Summer 2007) Corporatist and other controls General Administration of Press and Publication government's main regulator of the press March 10, 2010 restrict media coverage of politically sensitive events limit uncontrolled news reporting on China's fast-growing Internet. new qualification exam for aspiring journalists test them on their knowledge of Chinese Communist Party journalism" and Marxist views of news. Journalists who do not pass the exam will not be allowed to apply for a job in the news industry. Media commercialization: Incentives to push the boundaries or to self-censor? 32 Financial incentives Institutional Circulation, Individual advertising journalist Salary linked publications (must get past censors) Regular re-licensing Relationship to censors A Banner Too Far: Bao Tong on the 17th Party Congress (Oct ’07) 33 He wrote this essay, broadcast by Radio Free Asia's Mandarin service, from his Beijing home, where he has lived under house arrest since his release from jail in the wake of the 1989 student movement: “Why is it that the crucial roles played by the media and the creative arts, that of exposing the dark side of our society, are now regarded as the epitome of treason, and are being choked off, one by one? Why has the publications inspection system which caused Marx such a headache been turned by Communist Party leaders into the art of maintaining power? These and so many other similar questions are studiously avoided by the documents of the 17th Party Congress. They aren't raised, they aren't analyzed, and they aren't answered. The documents don't answer the question of how to turn this country into a genuine republic, not just in name only; neither do they address the question of how to ensure that ordinary citizens genuinely have the right to exercise state power. 34 Case studies Bringing evidence to the debates Bringing Evidence to the Debates Wenchuan Earthquake Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Unprecedented “freedom” in early media coverage Natural—not man-made disaster Sheer magnitude of the event Initial break-down of standard controls Subsequent loosening Reassertion of control Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Media outlets under dual controls Chinese Communist Party—sets content guidelines Politburo Propaganda Chinese State Department Government—controls licensing Council General Administration of Press and Publication Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Jobs on the line Personal Editors removed Beijing News 2005 Papers responsibility for failures in censorship closed “Freezing Point” 2006 Only one instance in immediate earthquake aftermath New Travel Weekly (Chongqing) Publication suspended Editor removed Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake “Propaganda circulars” Specific instructions on how to handle sensitive topics or specific news stories Content from New China News Agency (ex: train derailment) May 12: “No media is allowed to send reporters to the disaster zone.” Editors recalled reporters or did not dispatch reporters Some reporters went as individuals no byline May Oriental Morning Post (Shanghai) 东方早报 Others led to “collective resistance” to prohibition 14: “Reporters going to the disaster zone must move about with rescue team.” Media coverage: freedom vs. control Reassertion of controls Party-state promoted Celebration of Premier Wen Jiabao People’s Daily front page 1 week later Government authority in quake zone Liberation Daily front page May 21, 2008 Get back to work Sensitive issues suppressed Allegations of corruption in school construction Violent protests against local governments by parents of Media coverage: freedom vs. control following the Wenchuan Earthquake Role of the Internet Unseemly that the Olympic torch should continue in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake Policy reversed Nationalism in the media: Double-edged sword Tremendous national spirit “Go China!” 加油中国! Ex: Donations Money, blood, volunteer efforts Anti-foreign sentiment MacDonald’s Criticized for paltry donation to relief effort Minister of Commerce Chen Deming Defending foreign corporations in China Note also internet criticisms of Chinese corporations Attempts to Promote Trust in Government and Political Legitimacy through the Media 5月13日 “我是温家宝爷爷，孩子们一定要挺住…” May 13 “ I’m Grandpa Wen Jiabao. Children [you] must hold on…” Trust in the central government Distrust in local government Bringing Evidence to the Debates Case: Xiamen PX Factory Xiamen PX Factory PX Chemical Factory—relocated Citizens in Xiamen Worried about air pollution, smokestacks, poisonous gas Let’s collectively take a walk, maybe we will meet a mayor who listens. Bringing Evidence to the Debates Case: Shanghai Maglev Extension Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Citizens protest maglev extension January 6, 2008 Middle class homeowners Texting: collectively taking a walk 集体散步 Blogging Video posted on internet Subsequently banned by Internet police Southern Metropolis Daily (newspaper) only Chinese media that reported this incident Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Citizen blog post Mr. Zhou [a member of Shanghai government's evaluation team] mentioned ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) and said that this organization has reported that this is harmless and that is harmless. This is really strange. We ordinary citizens can also read English. What we have seen in ICNRP documents details all kinds of harmful effects of electric and magnetic radiation. A lot of research, including biological research and volunteered human subjects research, all showed enormous risks in such an environment. Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Southern Metropolis Daily ‘Two days ago, the plan for the western extended line of the Maglev project began to be publicized. In order to peacefully express themselves, residents along the line came to People’s Square and expressed their opinion about Maglev line passing through their own neighborhood using the method of “taking a walk” and “shopping.” Citizens say: this is one way to express opinions.’ Shanghai Maglev Extension Case Shanghai government’s official media site: EastNet “There are people who want Shanghai in chaos. Now, some foreigners are playing up the Maglev project, spreading some malicious rumors. Some domestic people also follow them to make a fuss. Goodhearted people must not to fall into their trap.” Shanghai Maglev Extension Case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUXGiuydqiM& feature=player_embedded Project withdrawn Note: project also opposed by Ministry of Railways